Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura has moved to address concerns over ongoing activities at Karura Forest after reports suggested that land clearing was taking place.
In a statement on Wednesday, March 11, Mwaura clarified that the land involved measures only three acres and already forms part of an existing programme.
"Following the public discourse regarding activities at the Karura Tree Nursery, the Government wishes to clarify that the land to be used measures 3 acres and forms part of the existing Tree Biotechnology Programme Trust (TBPT) Nursery," he said.
Mwaura stated that the work underway does not involve clearing fresh forest land but rather rehabilitating facilities that had previously been established.
"This exercise does not involve any new clearing, but is instead a renovation of facilities on land that had already been set aside for the above-mentioned tree nursery, which has not been maintained for some time," he added.
Read More
According to Mwaura, the project will contribute to the national effort to expand tree cover by producing over 2 million seedlings.
"The 3 acres will be used to plant 2 million seedlings in support of the 15 billion Tree Campaign, noting that one of the key challenges in achieving this national target has been the shortage of adequate seedlings," he continued.
Mwaura also clarified that officers from the National Youth Service (NYS) involved in the exercise will be housed within the same area that is already used for forest ranger accommodation.
"The NYS officers and volunteers will be accommodated in containers within the area already being used to accommodate forest rangers," he further said.
Mwaura urged the public to ignore claims suggesting that additional land within Karura Forest is being taken over for the project.
"No new land is being hived off for this exercise and the public is therefore urged to disregard fake news and sensational reporting regarding this matter," he concluded.
This comes days after the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) moved to clarify the status of ongoing construction works within its headquarters at Karura Forest.
In a statement on Thursday, February 26, KFS stated that the current construction involves housing facilities for NYS personnel who will collaborate with the agency in environmental restoration efforts.
The agency explained that the initiative is not limited to Karura but is part of a broader national rollout across multiple forest stations.
"Currently, there is development of barracks for National Youth Service (NYS) personnel who will be partnering with the Service to support the raising of tree seedlings.
"Setting up of barracks for NYS is happening not only in Karura forest, but in other forest stations around the country including Ngong Hills forest where the barracks are nearing completion," the statement read.
According to KFS, the collaboration with NYS is intended to increase labour capacity for seedling production in line with Kenya’s long-term environmental targets.
"The partnership between KFS and NYS is meant to provide labour and boost tree seedling production to support realization of the national strategy of growing 15 billion trees by 2032 for realization of 30 percent tree cover," the statement added.
Responding to allegations of land grabbing, forest excision, or encroachment into conservation areas, KFS dismissed the claims, maintaining that no protected sections of Karura Forest have been affected.
"There has been no excision of Karura forest land, allocation to private developers or encroachment into protected indigenous forest or core conservation areas as alleged by a section of the civil society. In addition, no trees have been felled, only removal of old tree stumps," the statement further read.
-1773207479.png)
